1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polarizer, a polarizing plate, a liquid crystal display, an image display, and a method for producing a polarizer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since a liquid crystal display (LCD) is a non-self-luminance display, the image display should be performed by illuminating its liquid crystal panel. For a lighting system of a typical liquid crystal display, a backlight, a front light or the like disposed on the front or backside of a liquid crystal panel, is used (see JP 11-(1999) 250715 A). However, since the front light or the backlight has a thickness of about 2 mm or more, the thickness of the entire liquid crystal display is increased considerably.
For solving the problem, a liquid crystal display is disclosed, and the liquid crystal display has a sidelight disposed on a side face of a liquid crystal panel and an optical controlling layer arranged on a surface of the liquid crystal panel. A light beam emitted from the sidelight is transmitted through the interior of the liquid crystal display. The optical controlling layer reflects the emitted light so as to transmit the light through the entire liquid crystal display and to illuminate the front surface of the liquid crystal panel (see, e.g., JP 2001-318379 A). The optical controlling layer is thinner than the backlight or the front light. For example, the thickness of the optical controlling layer is not more than 200 μm. As a result, the thickness of the liquid crystal display having the sidelight and the optical controlling layer can be decreased remarkably in comparison with a liquid crystal display having a backlight or the like.
However, the liquid crystal display having a sidelight and an optical controlling layer has a disadvantage that emitted light is colored during the transmission in a direction opposite to the sidelight.
An object of the present invention is to provide a polarizer that can be used for image displays such as liquid crystal displays, and the polarizer can suppress coloring of the transmitted light.